Staff Pick, Literature (by Tim)
A bestseller in her native Chinese, Yan Ge’s first English translation is an eclectic collection of hypnotic short stories. Ranging from historical mysteries to musings on modern day relationships to surreal tales, her prose will linger in your mind long after the last page!
'Wonderful writing.' SARAH HALL
'Dazzlingly good.' DANIELLE McLAUGHLIN
'Precise, surreal and emotionally devastating' LUCY CALDWELL
‘How do you know this is all real and happening? How can you be sure you haven’t already died in the earthquake and are just living in the afterlife?’
In her highly anticipated English-language debut, Yan Ge explores isolation in nine iridescent, witty and wondrous tales. Both contemporary and ancient, real and surreal, the stories in Elsewhere range from China to Dublin to London and Stockholm.
From a group of writers lounging on the edge of a disaster zone to a mandarin ostracised from his old court trying to avoid assassination, and from a woman who inexplicably loses her voice to a couple who meet all too fleetingly at a cinema in Dublin, these are strange and beguiling stories of dispossession, longing and the diasporic experience.
'Glorious' MIA GALLAGHER
'Gripping, stunning, worldly and otherworldly.’ MADELEINE THIEN
'Equal parts shimmering wit and startling emotional depth.' JEREMY TIAN
'One of the most surprising writers I've read in recent years. . . fantastic.' MATT BELL
